Crime & Safety

Hood-dunnit Ends with San Rafael Bank Robbery Suspect Behind Bars

Suspect's wardrobe gaffe captured on YouTube video leads to the arrest of a San Rafael man and two alleged accomplices accused of robbing a Terra Linda CitiBank on Friday.

Editor's note: A previous version of this story included a link to a video of the robbery. The San Rafael Police Department has removed this video. I'll repost the video if and when the police make it available.

A wardrobe malfunction helped San Rafael police foil a bank robbery.

After launching a manhunt for the robber who held up a CitiBank on 1004 Northgate Drive in the city's Terra Linda neighborhood at about 11:07 a.m. a slippery hood led San Rafael police investigators to their suspect.

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Their big break came within hours of putting out this clear photo of the suspect’s face, Sgt. Mike Vergara told Patch.

A tipster who saw the photo published online contacted authorities after recognizing the suspect as Alphonso Miquel Pazos, 56 of San Rafael, Vergara said.

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The gaffe is captured on a YouTube video released by police.

“It gave us a better look at his face,” Vergara said.

“It’s not very often that you have a little malfunction there that identifies a person. That definitely helped us out a lot.”

Investigators contacted the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office after determining Pazos was staying at a Santa Rosa hotel, Vergara said.

Sheriff’s deputies and police staked out the hotel and conducted a high- risk stop on a vehicle they knew to be associated with the suspect, Vergara said.

Pazos was arrested without incident outside a Carl’s Jr. restaurant and is being held in Marin County Jail on $75,000 bail according to the Marin County Sheriff’s website.

Two alleged accomplices who police have not publicly identified were arrested too, Vergara said.

The two suspects are a man and a woman who are Pazos’ friends. Both are San Rafael residents who were released on bail, Vergara said, noting their involvement appears to have been helping Pazos leave town.

Police found a replica gun on Pazos believed to have been used in Friday’s robbery, Vergara said.

“It wasn’t a toy gun like people made it out to be,” Vergara said. It “absolutely” looked like a real gun.

Police don’t believe Pazos to be the serial robber known as the “Cotton Ball Bandit” who’s held up nine Marin County banks in the last year.

Investigators don’t believe the resemblance between Pazos and the grainy surveillance photos of the “Cotton Ball Bandit” are that close, but  “you’re never a 100 percent sure until we can look into it a little bit more,” Vergara said.

The FBI is offering a reward of up to $2,500 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the “Cotton Ball Bandit” - so named by the Central Marin Police Authority because of the pom-pom ball atop the brown knit hat with earflaps he’s worn during most of his heists.

“We’re definitely not going to ignore the situation,” Vergara said.

“Maybe there is some link, maybe he’s hooked up with the guy.”

But police in San Rafael are breathing a little easier today with at least one armed robbery suspect in custody.

“We’re extremely happy,” Vergara said.

“To make an arrest of a bank robbery suspect is great – it makes everybody feel a lot safer knowing somebody’s not out there committing these crimes, especially the people at the bank.”

Anyone with information about the “Cotton Ball Bandit” is asked to call the San Rafael Police Department at 415.485.3000 or Crime Stoppers at 1.800.222.TIPS (8477). This phone number accommodates all languages. Callers can remain anonymous and may be eligible for a cash reward.

Tips can also be made online through Silent Witness at www.srpd.org/tips. The FBI has offered a $2,500 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the robber known as the “Cotton Ball Bandit.”

Information can be left on the FBI’s confidential tip line at 415-553-7400.

 

 


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